November 20, 2002
by Dick Prentke
We noted in our last column the death of Bill Jones and must add to that list the loss of Rod Furnald on June 4. Memorials will appear in due course. When Lanny and I learn of a death, we contact former roommates, friends and/or family for assistance. Since understandable limits are imposed on the length of memorials, I wanted to share conversations with Bill while drumming up interest among former rowers for the 35th turnout.
Last May, Bill’s desire to attend the reunion with his family was overshadowed by his initiating a clinical trial of chemo treatment for liver cancer. He expressed deep appreciation to Bob Beart, whose referral a year earlier to a colleague resulted in fabulous, life-saving surgery that allowed Bill to return for his son’s graduation. Just released from the hospital, Bill managed to sneak into the P-rade via wheelchair. He was optimistic about this summer’s clinical trial, wished everyone a great 35th, and expressed confidence that there would be other chances. Unfortunately, for Bill there will not be.
On a lighter note, I have been reminded that we received a warning at the class general meeting in Sept. 1963 described in our last column that, while outstanding, only 50% of the class would graduate in the top half. Once again we exceeded expectations – our 25th/30th class poll revealed that a full 64% graduated in the top half. More gems from the Fall 1963 Freshman Handbook:
Freshman-week forums included: “The Status and Prospects for Nuclear Power,” by Prof. R. C. Axtmann; “The Arab World Today,” by Profs. R. B. Winder and Norman Itzkowitz; “Transportation – the Undernourished Science,” by Prof. David Hazen; and “Solid State Electronics,” by Prof. George Warfield.
© 2002 Dick Prentke and The Princeton Alumni Weekly. Used by permission.
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